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What are School Vouchers?

What are School Vouchers?

School vouchers give parents the freedom to choose a private school for their children, using all or part of the public funding set aside for their children’s education. Under such a program, funds typically spent by a school district would be allocated to a participating family in the form of a voucher to pay partial or full tuition for their child’s private school, including both religious and non-religious options.

Watch the short, animated video below to see how school vouchers work for families.

Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., have school voucher programs.

Check out the list below for quick links to those program details, which include family eligibility tests, participation numbers, funding amounts and more.

School Voucher Fast Facts

Do you know which of America’s school voucher programs is the biggest? Which school voucher program was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States? For more little-known truths about America’s school voucher programs, visit our school voucher fast facts.

Do school voucher programs improve student learning?

School voucher programs—if well designed—improve students’ academic performance. In fact, the competition created by school voucher programs actually drives improvement for public school students, as well. Beyond that, school voucher programs foster more racial and socio-economic integration and better civic values in students. The proof is in the empirical evidence.